Soups

Slow Cooker Oxtail Soup

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It’s a shame this soup isn’t more popular, because it’s full of nourishing gelatin, and it tastes amazing. It smells good too. I was literally standing over the slow cooker smelling it, while I waited for it finish cooking. I hope you love this as much as I do!

Slow Cooker Oxtail Soup
 
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Ingredients
  • 2.5 lbs of oxtail
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 3 carrots chopped ½ inch
  • 1 parsnip chopped ½ inch
  • 3 cups of chopped white onions (= 1 large onion)
  • ½ tsp dried thyme
  • ½ tsp sea salt
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • 1 tbsp of minced garlic (= 3 cloves)
  • garnish with fresh parsley (optional)
Instructions
  1. Defrost oxtail, the slow cooker will eventually defrost it if you forget this step.
  2. Throw all ingredients into the slow cooker. Then fill rest of slow cooker with water.
  3. Cook on high for 6 to 7 hours or low for 9 to 10 hours.
  4. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  5. Scoop out oxtail bones, and let them cool enough for you to handle.
  6. Then peel and/or chop as much meat off as possible. This is the tough part, pun intended since there is not much meat and some of it may be tough. Do your best. Then add meat back into soup.
  7. Garnish with fresh parsley (optional)

Desserts

Open-faced Strawberry Pie Sweetened with Honey

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These beautiful strawberries were on sale at Whole Foods, so I had to grab them. I’ve been wanting to attempt a berry pie for a while now. Thankfully, it’s practically summer here is LA and strawberries are back in season. This was my first attempt with tapioca flour and I’m really happy with the way it thickened up the filing. It’s made from the roots of manioc plants, which are sometimes called cassava, yuca, and singkong and are native to South America. I bought the Let Do…Organic Brand, and was very happy with the results.

Open-faced Strawberry Pie Filing
 
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Ingredients
  • 5 cups of strawberries (set aside 1 cup for top of pie)
  • 2 tbsp of creamy wildflower honey
  • ⅓ cup of water
  • 2 tbsp of tapioca flour (Let's Do...Organic Brand)
  • 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
  • ¼ cup of water
Instructions
  1. Prebake a pie crust. I used almond flour for mine since it's gluten free and paleo.
  2. While crust is baking, use a paring knife to hull strawberries. Then slice vertically to get pretty slices.
  3. Set aside one cup of strawberries, sprinkle the other four cups with tapioca flour.
  4. In a saucepan, combine the strawberries with the tapioca flour, honey, water, and lemon juice.
  5. Stir and simmer until it thickens to a watery jelly like consistency. Then add filing to pie crust.
  6. Add remaining one cup of strawberries to top of pie, so your pie doesn't look too mushy. I like to push the uncooked strawberries down a little, so they get a little of the jelly glaze and fit in with the rest of the strawberries.

Sides

Maple Glazed Baby Carrots

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I’ve been avoiding desserts since I went overboard on Valentines Day. I still struggle with sugar cravings, which is why I made this side dish. These carrots are great because they are already pretty sweet, then when you add in a small amount of maple sugar and you can pretend you’re eating dessert. You can get organic baby carrots cheaply at Costco, so this dish is also budget friendly. Plus, even picky eaters will eat this.

Maple Glazed Baby Carrots
 
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Serves: 1
Ingredients
  • ⅓ cup of grade b maple syrup
  • 3 cups of baby carrots
  • 1 tsp of sea salt
Instructions
  1. Add baby carrots to a pan, then drizzle with the maple sugar.
  2. Put on medium heat with lid on. The liquid from the cooking carrots and the maple sugar will steam the carrots . Stir occasionally
  3. When carrots are almost done, remove lid and stir to evaporate remaining water, until carrots are soft when poked with a knife.
  4. Transfer to bowl, then sprinkle with sea salt.
  5. Tip: I've also left the lid off the entire time and added water when it evaporated as needed. This caramelized the carrots a little better, but it cooked them slower.
Nutrition Information
Serving size: 1 person

Dinner

Sautéed Cabbage and Onions with Bacon

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Believe it or not, sautéed cabbage and onions was second thing I learned how to cook back in college after cous cous, that’s how easy this recipe is to make. I used olive oil back then and left out the bacon. However, the bacon make this taste extra delicious for pickier eaters, and the rendered bacon fat makes a great stable cooking oil. Plus, this recipe makes a ton of leftovers, which always makes me happy.
Sautéed Cabbage and Onions with Bacon
 
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Ingredients
  • 10 oz package of bacon
  • ¾ green cabbage
  • 2 medium white onions
  • 1 tsp sea salt to taste
  • 1 tsp black pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Chop bacon into one inch pieces
  2. Sauté bacon in dutch oven
  3. Chop onions and cook in bacon grease with bacon.
  4. Chop and stir in green cabbage.
  5. Stir until desired firmness.
  6. Add sea salt and black pepper to taste.
Nutrition Information
Serving size: 4
Health & Wellness

Health Benefits of Tallow and How I Make Mine

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tallow

 

One of the reasons, I love paleo recipes are the healthy use of fats. Tallow is one of my favorite fats because it’s saturated, so it’s stable enough for cooking. Plus, it’s rendered from beef, and since I regularly buy grass fed knuckle bones aka soup bones at my farmer’s market for bone broth, I consider this fat a nutritious freebie! I use a lot of coconut oil for cooking, so this is a great substitute that helps me reduce the cost of food. When I make bone broth, I usually just scoop the fat when it solidifies at the top of the broth in the refrigerator. The fat does keep the broth fresher longer, so don’t scoop it out unless you are going to use the broth right away. Once you scoop it out, save it in a glass container. You can use it just like that, or you can put the container with the fat in a saucepan with some water, and put the heat on the lowest possible setting. The steam will melt the fat, and when it solidifies, it will be one whole mass instead of smaller uglier pieces.

Besides being an awesome cooking oil, tallow is one of few sources of Vitamin K2. Other sources include natto (fermented soybeans), goose liver, certain cheeses, and animal fat such as egg yolk, butter and lard from grass-fed animals. Vitamin K2 is a common vitamin deficiency that usually manifests as osteoporosis, alzheimer’s disease, arterial plaques (aka heart disease), wrinkles and dental cavities. So basically, the health problems associated with old age. If you supplement with K2, it’s not cheap. I bought mine from Carlson Labs, and for 180 capsules it was around $50.

Our ancestors regularly cooked with animal fat. If you check out old recipe books, they aren’t afraid to use lard on their list of ingredients. Turns out grandma’s traditions became tradition for a reason. Confused about whether you should be taking calcium for your bones? Studies have shown that increased calcium supplementation can increase the risk of heart disease, especially in women. What K2 does, is it helps put the calcium in the right place. Instead of the arteries where it increases the risk of heart disease, with K2 the calcium goes to your bones and your teeth.

So now you may be sold on lard, but to get the full benefits of K2 it needs to be from grass fed animals. According to Dr. Kate Rheaume-Bleue, author of Vitamin K2 and the Calcium Paradox, you’re animals need to consume choropllyl from leafy greens to get K1. The animals then convert K1 to K2 for you, where it’s stored in their fat until you consume it. Tallow also contains Vitamin D, which is important for hormonal health. Check out my article on 6 Tips to Help Balance Your Hormones Naturally on Answers.com if you want more information on balancing your hormones.

Reviews

Norpro Egg Rite Egg Timer Review

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So lately, I’ve been obsessed with hard boiled eggs. I eat them for breakfast. I snack on them. I actually just ate two of them a couple minutes ago for dessert. I’ve trying to reduce sugar as much as possible after Valentines Day, and hard boiled eggs have definitely helped me keep my diet on track. This is not a paid review, and I bought the Norpro Egg Rite Egg Timer myself. I’ve found that the lines for soft, medium, and hard are not accurate, and the egg is hard boiled when the whole timer turns from red to purple. That being said, I still love it. Now that I’ve used it a bit, I know when to take it off the heat. The longer I leave it out in the cold water after it’s done cooking, the easier it peels. I finally feel like I might succeed in making deviled eggs, which happens to be a favorite dish of mine. On amazon it’s only $6.45, which I think is definitely worth it. Mary G. Enig, author of Know Your Fats, recommends that you eat at least one egg a day if you are not allergic to them. Chris Kresser also has an awesome article “Three Eggs a Day Keep the Doctor Away” that I highly recommend you check out.

A Health and Wellness Blog